1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for attaching a generally cylindrical object, such as a bottle, to a support structure, and, more particularly to attaching such an object a belt or waistband or to a fixed support structure, such as a rail of an exercise machine.
2. Summary of the Background Art
Many people prefer to drink certain types of bottled water or other drinks to an extend sufficient to justify carrying a personal supply of such liquids with them. While such liquids are readily available in grocery and convenience stores in small bottles suitable for individual consumption, a particular problem arises during walking, jogging, or while performing other moving exercises in that it is inconvenient to a bottle of liquid in one's hand. While such exercises tend to stimulate thirst, they also often carry the individual into locations where bottles of the desired liquids are not available. Thus, what is needed is a convenient method for attaching such a bottle to one's clothing so that it can be carried while the hands are left free.
Many individuals regularly use exercise equipment, such as treadmills and stationary bicycles for extended workouts or for workouts of shorter duration but faster pace. In either case, the person using the equipment often becomes thirsty before the workout period is completed. It is often desirable, both for reasons of personal comfort and for reasons of physical health to replace fluids lost during exercise before the period of using a particular piece of exercise equipment is completed. Yet, it is inconvenient and often undesirable to leave the exercise equipment to obtain water or another drink tailored to replace lost fluids; to interrupt an exercise program may jeopardize its effectiveness. Thus, what is needed is a method for providing water or another fluid to be drunk while using the exercise equipment. Since many types of exercise equipment include handrails or other horizontal bar structures within reach of a person using the equipment, this need can be filled by providing a means to removable attachment of a bottle to such a horizontal structure.
Several patents describe a bottle holder including an aperture engaging the neck of a water bottle and a lower portion extending downward to be held inside the user's belt. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,779 describes a bottle carrier having a connection section formed as an inverted U-shaped clip that is connected by a rod to a gripping section having a pair of claws with curved ends, between which the neck of a bottle is received. U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,329 describes a holder for attaching a bottle to a user's belt, with the holder including an upright portion to be inserted behind the belt and a lateral portion including two connected openings of different sizes to permit the insertion and removal of the bottle neck. U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,335 describes a bottle holder having a horizontal upper portion, an inclined intermediate portion, and a vertical lower portion that can be molded in one piece from plastic. The intermediate and upper portions are configured with an oval slot that is configured to accept and hold the neck of a bottle, with the bottle being supported by a ring around the neck of the bottle. The lower portion is configured as an inverted U-shaped clip, including a slot through which a VELCRO® type strap extends to encircle the bottle. What is needed is a bottle holder having a flexible strap with ends connected by a clamping mechanism providing belt tension to hold the bottle without a need to engage the neck of a bottle. Such a bottle holder would be usable with a number of bottle configurations, without regard for particular features of the bottle neck.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,331,721 and 6,168,057 each describe a U-shaped clip that can be applied to an object to facilitate holding the object by means of the clip on one's belt, waistband, or on another supporting edge of ones clothing, such as a pocket. Each of these clips has an inner leg to extend downward inside the belt or clothing and an outer leg, also extending downward from the top of the clip, with an outer surface having means for attachment to the object to be held. In the device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,721, the outer surface of the outer leg has a rectangular adhesive pad and a removable protective liner, so that the object to be held is securely clip. In the device of U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,057, the outer surface of the outer leg has the first strip of a pair of removably attachable fastening strips. The second strip is provided with an adhesive backing and a release layer, so that the object to be held is releasably attached to the clip. In the device of each of these patents, the outer surface of the outer leg is flat, so that the clip can only be attached to an object having a flat side, such as a walkie-talkie, a cordless telephone, or a single-use camera. What is needed is a belt clip having an adjustable strap to fasten around a generally cylindrical object, such as a water bottle.
Other patents show belt clips provided as portions of structures configured for special purposes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,184 shows an adapter for removably holding a cellular phone on a belt clip to be secured by a belt. U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,424 shows a belt clip for a single-use camera, with the belt clip being included within the display packaging of the camera. U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,695 shows a holster having a loop for receiving the end of the user's belt and a main body portion with a pair of spaced-apart openings for receiving a belt clip forming part of a pager or cellular phone. U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,922 describes a carrier for a cylindrical article comprising a clip attachable to the user's belt and a flexible cup-like holder capable of closely fitting around the article, and adhesive pads on the clip and holder for attaching the holder to the clip. Again, what is needed is a belt clip having an adjustable strap to fasten around a generally cylindrical object, such as a water bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,572 describes a supporting device for sports bottles having a liquid container with an integral neck and a cap that fits on the neck to hold the sports bottle in a vertical position. The supporting device is an integrally formed manufacture having a retaining section with a hole to fit over the neck of the container and is secured against vertical movement when the sports bottle cap is screwed down. Integral with the supporting device is a mounting tab which extends downward toward the container's base at or near the side of the sports bottle container when the supporting device is secured on the sports bottle. The bottle can now be hung by placing the mounting tab over one's belt to free his hands while he is walking. Additionally, by adhering a receiving block, having a hole that accepts the mounting tab, in a convenient location within a car a sports bottle can be hung within a car within easy reach of the user. This device relies on the wide mouth of the bottle to hold the supporting device in place on the bottle and on the use of a straw to drink from the bottle, eliminating a need to unscrew the cap, which would loosen the attachment of the supporting device to the bottle. Thus, what is needed is a bottle supporting device that can be used with many types of bottles, including the small bottles, without wide necks, in which spring water is often sold.
Other patents describe specialized containers into which a fluid is poured before it is consumed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,464 describes a wide-mouth drink bottle having one strip of a two-part fastener extending along one side of the bottle. The mating part of the two-part fastener extends along the side of a vertical strap having a pair of loops through which the user's belt is placed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,145 describes a body-mounted water dispensing system for providing a convenient method of drinking liquids while exercising. The system includes a water container and pump, mounted on a belt, together with an outlet hose and drinking tube extending upward to the wearer's mouth. Again, what is needed is a low-cost disposable system. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,743,620, 6,260,731, and 6,279,794 each describe a specialized bottle including a clip allowing the bottle to be attached to clothing. What is needed is a system allowing the use of readily available disposable bottles, without requiring the fluid to be poured into another container before it is consumed, and similarly eliminating a need to wash the container after use.
The use of a belt to hold an elongated group of objects to a bracket is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,632,069, in the form of a bracket for mounting wire bundles or the like to be held by binder ties and for retaining the binder ties adjacent flanged lightening holes and bulkheads. The bracket further includes a single mounting leg. What is needed is a belt configured to allow loosening and subsequent tightening without tools for the application of releasably holding water bottles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,151 describes a shoulder strap and a neck strap forming part of a hands-free canteen for carrying a drinkable liquid, such as mineral water. The assembly additionally includes a standard liquid containing bottle whose externally threaded neck is engaged by a screw-on cap having a small loop integral therewith. Another form of neck strap is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,135, with the neck strap passing through a slot in a flange of a container being carried, and with the neck strap comprising a flexible cord having ends held together with an aglet through a friction fit. Another support for a beverage container that may be placed around the neck of the user is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,611. What is needed is a method for hooking a water bottle to a belt or waistband without requiring modification to the bottle, such as a cap with an integral loop or a slot provided for passage of a strap.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,577,647 and 5,711,465 each describe a bottle carrying device that replaces the cap of a conventional water bottle. The bottle carrying device includes a carrying strap and a spout through which the water can be consumed when the bottle is squeezed. What is needed is a strap that can be attached to a bottle without a requirement to remove and replace the cap.
Other patents, including U.S. Design Pat. Nos. D340,583 and D487,660 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,807,679, 6,161,885, and 6,401,993 describe bottle carriers in which bottles, including the large water bottles used in water coolers, are carried from handles or straps. What is needed is a carrier for carrying small, conventional water bottles attached to the user's belt or waistband.
Other patents described significantly more complex structures for carrying one or more water bottles and other articles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,618 describes a shoulder harness having a water bottle cover serving as a holder, which is attached to the harness strap by a VELCRO® closure. U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,860 describes a sports utility belt including a central body adapted to receive one or more water bottles connected to a drinking tube. U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,101 describes apparatus including a number of adjustable straps for carrying sports equipment such as a folding chair, a body board, and a beverage holder. Again, what is needed is a method for hooking a water bottle to a belt or waistband.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,720 describes a combined handle and friction connector for a container, in which a handle assembly can be either integral with a container or attachable thereto. The handle is spaced from the container by an opening for receiving the hand of the user, and has a snap-on groove for detachably connecting the handle and the associated container to a tubular support having a range of varying diameters. What is needed is a clamp having an adjustable strap for supporting attachment to supports having a wider range of shapes and dimensions.
The patent art describes a number of devices for removably attaching water bottles to structural elements by means of loop and hook closure mechanisms, such as VELCRO® closures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,033 describes a composite water bottle holder formed by sewing a first edge of a sheet of neoprene material to form a generally cylindrical shaped water straps of bottle holder with a VELCRO® attachment mechanism including mating straps of material. U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,770 describes a holder including a body with a slot through which a flexible strap extends. One side of the strap forms one side of the VELCRO® closure, while the other side of the closure is formed by one or more pads attached to the body. One end of the strap is pulled around the structural element and through a buckle at the opposite end of the strap to be fastened to the pad(s) attached to the body. U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,678 describes a holder of holding a cup on the arm of a chair. The holder includes an “L”-shaped support structure having an upper surface along which one side of the VELCRO® closure extends and a lower surface from which a strap forming the other side of the closure hangs. The support structure is placed atop the chair arm, with the strap extending around the chair arm and along the upper surface of the support structure. U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,188 describes a fabric strap for releasably securing a bicycle accessory to a bicycle, with the fabric strap including the loop and hook portions associated with VELCRO® closures. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,325,991 and 5,381,932 each describe a holder including a hollow cylinder, open at the top, for holding a cylindrical object, such as a bottle, cup, or can, and additionally including an attachment member having an inner leg that can extend downward inside a belt or waistband and an outer leg removably attached to the hollow cylinder by a two-part fastener, such as a VELCRO fastener. What is needed is a low-cost clip that can be attached to a disposable bottle and disposed with the bottle, eliminating a need to return with a large empty holder. What is needed is a lower cost means for removably attaching a bottle holder to a structural element without requiring the use of such closures.
A number of patents, of which U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,060,832 and 5,425,484 are exemplary, describe methods for attaching a water bottle to a bicycle so that, while the water bottle is easily removable, a part of the attachment mechanism remains attached to the bicycle, for example, being bolted thereto. Since the bicycle typically belongs to the individual installing and using the water bottle and repeatedly using the bicycle, this remaining attachment portion does not present a serious problem. U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,958 describes a similar method for removably attaching a water bottle to a golf bag. However, what is needed is a water bottle attachment mechanism that is easily and totally removed from exercise equipment in a gymnasium, so that the equipment can be used by others, and so that the water bottle can be used on other equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,087 describes a sports bottle having a hook for suspending the bottle from a support structure. Since sports bottles having a number of desirable features without such a hook are widely available filled with suitable liquids, what is needed is a mechanism for removably attaching an existing water bottle to a support structure. Additionally, since the support surface provided by exercise equipment may move with its use, causing a water bottle simply suspended from a hook to swing, what is needed is a mechanism clamping the water bottle to the support structure.
Other patents, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,570,835, 4,767,092, 5,400,990, 5,695,162, 5,966,865, and 6,631,876, describe relatively large holders for clamping bottles and other cylindrical devices to stationary structures. What is needed is a device including only an attachment adapter and a pair of flexible belt assemblies, that can be easily carried with a water bottle to a gymnasium and that will not present a significant burden when returning from the gymnasium, after disposal of the empty water bottle.